Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has returned to the Sri Lankan ministry nine months after his outspoken criticism of a government infrastructure deal saw him fired. (AFP pic)

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday reinstated his justice minister, who was fired nine months ago for publicly criticising a billion-dollar deal to lease a loss-making harbour to China.

Former justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was sworn into cabinet with the higher education and culture portfolios in a reshuffle prompted by the resignation of six ministers last month.

Sirisena’s office did not say why Rajapakshe was brought back into the fold despite his firing last August.